Mobile communication terminal and communication method

ABSTRACT

A mobile communication terminal and a communication method are provided which can reduce consumed power at the time of intermittent reception operation. The mobile communication terminal according to the present invention includes a RAM, an internal memory operable in a higher speed then the RAM, an arithmetic processing unit for performing a communication operation by using a communication program loaded in the RAM, an intermittent control unit, and a storage unit for storing an intermittent operation program. The intermittent control unit transfers the intermittent operation program stored in the storage unit to the internal memory in response to an intermittent operation start signal issued from the communication arithmetic processing unit. The communication arithmetic processing unit stops the communication operation when the transfer is completed and performs the intermittent reception operation by using the intermittent operation program stored in the internal memory.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal and acommunication method, more specifically, to a mobile communicationterminal and a communication method, in which a normal receivingoperation and an intermittent receiving operation are switched for acommunication operation.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, improvement the processing capability of a mobile phoneis demanded as a result of improvement of communication quality andadvanced multiple functions such as the execution environment of Webbrowser and Java (registered trademark), and installation of a CCDcamera and a video telephone function. Accordingly, the mobile phone hasbeen developed in which twin CPUs are mounted to have specializedpurposes such as a CPU for a communication process relating to audiocommunication (i.e. baseband chip) and a CPU for application processes.The twin CPUs are regarded as an important technique particularly inthird and following generations of mobile phones on which various highfunctional applications are installed and which require higher speedcommunication. In third-generation mobile phones which requiremultimedia functions as represented by a video telephone function, alarge burden will be generated if a baseband chip executes a video imageprocess. In such a case, it is desirable to mount a CPU exclusively usedfor an application from viewpoint of flexibility.

In a currently developed mobile terminal with twin CPUs mounted, aprocess to be executed by each of the CPUs is different depending on theterminal. For example, there is a mobile phone with twin CPUs mounted,in which an application one of the CPUs is used to carry out anoperation which requires high-speed processes such as a video imageprocess and a Java (registered trademark) process while basic softwareis operated on a baseband chip side in the same manner as conventionaltechniques. However, in this case, problems arise such thatspecification changes of applications and a communication system affectother software and an application portion cannot be formed beforecompletion of the communication system.

Moreover, in the mobile phone industry under fierce developmentcompetition, it is a large burden for manufacturers to develop twin CPUsfor every new model. In order to solve such problems, the mobile phoneswith twin CPUs mounted which are highly independent from each other havebeen developed in recent years, in which the baseband chip side is usedexclusively for communication processes and an application CPU is usedto execute other application functions (such as a telephone bookfunction, Java (registered trademark) function, video image reproductionfunction, and a voice process function). By completely dividing thesystem into a communication system and an application system, paralleldevelopment of the application CPU and the communication CPU becomespossible, to improve development efficiency. As a result, manufacturerscan reduce development costs and a development period.

Meanwhile, function fulfillment and extension of waiting time areconsidered to be important in mobile communication terminals asrepresented by the current mobile phones. Accordingly, it has beenstarted to employ an intermittent reception function in a wide range forthe purpose of lowering power consumption at the waiting time. Theintermittent reception is a technique to repeat a reception state (or awakeup mode) and a low power state (or a sleep mode) for a predeterminedperiod so as to receive a signal from other communication apparatus onlyin the wakeup mode and stop receiving the signal in the sleep mode.Following techniques are disclosed as related art relating to theintermittent reception.

Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-P2002-368676A) describes anintermittent reception method for reducing consumed power by operating asystem clock generating section at a time of a normal operation andstopping the system clock generating section in a sleep state.

Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-P2003-196097A) describes atechnique, in which table data saved in a backup memory when a powersource of an intermittent operation is turned on is loaded into a tabledata storage section, thereby a period of time to read data from a bootROM can be shortened by the intermittent operation.

Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-P2004-134904A) describes atechnique to reduce consumed power by setting a time period in aintermittent reception state to be doubled if there is no incoming callduring a preset reception interval time or more and a reception level isnot equal to or more than a preset specified value.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobilecommunication terminal 1100 (e.g. mobile phone) using twin CPUs in arelated art. Referring to FIG. 9, a method to use a program forperforming an intermittent receiving operation (to be referred to as aprogram for the intermittent operation hereinafter) in the mobilecommunication terminal 1100 will be described.

The related-art mobile communication terminal 1100 includes anapplication side chip for executing various application processes exceptfor communication processes, and a communication side chip for executingcommunication processes. The application side chip is provided with anapplication CPU 1110, a memory interface (I/F) 1120, a ROM 1130, a RAM1140, an ACPU interface (I/F) 1150. The communication side chip is alsoprovided with a communication CPU 1200, an internal memory 1210, amemory interface (I/F) 1220, a RAM 1230, a CCPU interface (I/F) 1240, acontrol interface (I/F) 1260, and a LSI 1270.

The application CPU 1110 acquires and executes application programsstored in the ROM 1130 or the RAM 1140 by controlling the memory I/F1120. At this time, a part of application programs stored in the ROM1130 is temporarily stored in the RAM 1140 and the application programsto be used are acquired from the RAM 1140 so as to execute applications.The ACPU I/F 1150 is connected to the CCPU I/F 1240 on the communicationside to exchange data between the application side chip and thecommunication side chip under control of the application CPU 1110 orcontrol from the CCPU I/F 1240. For example, mail data produced by amail producing process is transferred to the communication side chip viathe ACPU I/F 1150 and transmitted to the outside in a communicationprocess by the communication CPU 1200.

The communication CPU 1200 carries out the communication operation bycontrolling the LSI 1270 via the control I/F 1260. At this time, thecommunication CPU 1200 writes and reads data and programs into and fromthe internal memory 1210 or the RAM 1230 by using a control signal. Thememory I/F 1220 writes and reads data and programs into and from the RAM1230 in accordance with a control signal sent from the communication CPU1200 or the CCPU I/F 1240. The CCPU I/F 1240 controls data exchangesbetween the communication side chip and the application side chip inaccordance with a control signal sent from the communication CPU 1200.The control I/F 1260 controls the LSI 1270 in accordance with a controlsignal sent from the communication CPU 1200, and transfers various kindsof data from the LSI 1270 to the communication CPU 1200. The LSI 1270 isan integrated circuit which includes a base band unit, a wireless unitand a power circuit or the like to execute communication processes.

With the aforementioned configuration, communication programs andintermittent operation programs stored in the ROM 1130 and the RAM 1140on the application side are transferred to the RAM 1230 on thecommunication side at the start time or when a normal operation mode andan intermittent receiving mode are switched in the mobile communicationterminal 1100. The communication CPU 1200 executes communicationprocesses and intermittent receiving operation processes by accessingthe RAM 1230 which stores these programs.

The communication CPU 1200 in the related art controls the RAM 1230 tostore the programs for the intermittent operation at a time of theintermittent receiving operation and accesses the RAM 1230 to executethe intermittent receiving operation (i.e. an operation to repeat thewakeup mode and the sleep mode). Therefore, an access to the RAM 1230during the intermittent receiving operation requires extra powerconsumption.

Moreover, since the communication programs and the programs for theintermittent operation are both stored in the RAM 1230 during theintermittent receiving operation, it is necessary to ensure that the RAM1230 has a capacity to store at least both programs. That is, anincrease in the capacity of the RAM 1230 causes a circuit area andmanufacturing costs to be increased.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a mobile communicationterminal and a communication method in which consumed power can bereduced at the time of the intermittent receiving operation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a mobilecommunication terminal with a small circuit area.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a mobilecommunication terminal and a communication method, in which storage unitrequired to perform the communication can be used efficiently.

The mobile communication terminal according to the present inventionincludes a RAM, an internal memory operable in a higher speed then theRAM, an arithmetic processing unit for performing a communicationoperation by using a communication program loaded in the RAM, anintermittent control unit, and a storage unit for storing anintermittent operation program. The intermittent control unit transfersthe intermittent operation program stored in the storage unit to theinternal memory in response to an intermittent operation start signalissued from the communication arithmetic processing unit. Thecommunication arithmetic processing unit stops the communicationoperation when the transfer is completed and performs the intermittentreception operation by using the intermittent operation program storedin the internal memory.

More specifically, the communication arithmetic processing unit notifiesdata of a transfer destination of the intermittent operation program tothe intermittent control unit at a time of the communication operation.The intermittent control unit stores the intermittent operation programin the transfer destination of the internal memory on the basis of thetransfer destination data.

The intermittent operation program is transferred into the internalmemory by the intermittent control unit as hardware in the mobilecommunication terminal according to the present invention, and thecommunication arithmetic processing unit for performs the intermittentreception operation by accessing only the internal memory. It istherefore unnecessary to access an external storage unit such as a RAMin the intermittent reception operation, which realizes lower powerconsumption.

Moreover, when the intermittent operation program is transferred, aprogram which is not used in the intermittent reception operation ispreferably saved from the internal memory. That is, the intermittentcontrol unit according to the present invention saves the program whichis stored in the internal memory and not used in the intermittentreception operation into the RAM in response to the intermittentoperation start signal sent from the communication arithmetic processingunit. Thereafter, the intermittent operation program stored in thestorage unit is transferred to the internal memory. Accordingly, theinternal memory may have a storage capacity which is enough to hold theintermittent operation program, whereby reduction of a storage capacityand a circuit area can be realized.

When the intermittent reception operation is ended to proceed to thenormal communication operation, the communication arithmetic processingdevice issues an intermittent operation stop signal to the intermittentcontrol unit, and the intermittent control unit preferably transfers theintermittent operation program stored in the internal memory to thestorage unit in response to the intermittent operation stop signal. Inthe normal communication operation, the intermittent operation programcan be thus saved in the storage unit.

It is also preferable that the intermittent control unit carries out acontrol such that power consumption of the RAM during the intermittentreception operation is lower than that at the time of the communicationoperation. The RAM according to the present invention is preferably madeto suppress power consumption under control by the intermittent controlunit because it is not used during the intermittent operation.

Furthermore, the intermittent operation program preferably includes aplurality of the intermittent operation program to be divided byconditions based on a communication environment state. At this time, theintermittent control unit transfers any of a plurality of intermittentoperation programs from the storage unit to the internal memory inaccordance with conditions based on a communication environment state,and the communication arithmetic processing device stops thecommunication operation in the completion of the program transfer andperforms the intermittent reception operation by using the intermittentoperation program in accordance with communication conditions within theinternal memory. The intermittent operation programs divided based oncommunication conditions are stored in the internal memory, which allowsa storage capacity to be further reduced.

The mobile communication terminal and the communication method accordingto the present invention make it possible to reduce consumed power atthe time of the intermittent reception operation.

A circuit area can also be reduced in the intermittent control unit anda communication system of the mobile communication terminal mounted withthe intermittent control unit.

It is further possible to reduce development costs of the intermittentcontrol unit and the mobile communication terminal mounted with theintermittent reception device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobilecommunication terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an intermittentcontrol unit according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing a relationship between an operation ofthe mobile communication terminal and program transfer in the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing a program transition state in aseries of operations of the start of the mobile communication terminal,a normal operation and an intermittent operation in the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a program transferring process whenthe mobile communication terminal according to the present inventionstarts;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a program transferring process in thetransition from the normal operation to the intermittent operation inthe mobile communication terminal according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a program transferring process in thetransition from the intermittent operation to the normal operation inthe mobile communication terminal according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram showing a program transferring processwhen an intermittent program according to the present invention isdivided; and

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a related-artmobile communication terminal.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, a mobile communication terminal according to the presentinvention will be described with reference to the attached drawings.Same or similar reference numerals are assigned to same or similarcomponents in the drawings.

(Configuration of Mobile Communication Terminal)

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobilecommunication terminal 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention. Referring to FIG. 1, a communication operation in anormal mode (to be referred to as a normal operation, hereinafter) andan intermittent receiving operation in an intermittent receiving mode(to be referred to as an intermittent operation, hereinafter) in themobile communication terminal 100 according to the present inventionwill be described. Here, the normal operation is a normal communicationoperation to transmit and receive a radio signal to/from anothercommunication terminal, and the intermittent operation is acommunication operation to alternately repeat a wakeup mode in which awaiting state is maintained to receive the radio signal and a sleep modein which a reception stop state is maintained.

The mobile communication terminal 100 according to the present inventionincludes an application side chip for executing various applicationprocesses other than communication processes, and a communication sidechip for executing the communication processes. The application sidechip is provided with an application CPU 110, a memory interface (I/F)120, a ROM 130, a RAM 140, and an ACPU interface (I/F) 150. Also, thecommunication side chip is provided with a communication CPU 20, aninternal memory 210, a memory interface (I/F) 220, a RAM 230, a CCPUinterface (I/F) 240, an intermittent control unit 250, a controlinterface (I/F) 260, and a LSI 270.

The application CPU 110 is an arithmetic processing unit which controlsoperations other than communication such as a control operation of acamera and a LCD by controlling a memory I/F 120 and using anapplication program 1 stored in the ROM 130 or the RAM 140. The memoryI/F 120 is an interface which controls read and write of programs andvarious kinds of data from and into the RAM 140 and the ROM 130 inaccordance with a request (or a control signal) sent from theapplication CPU 110 or the ACPU I/F 150. The ACPU I/F 150 is aninterface which is connected to the CCPU I/F 240 on the communicationside and exchanges data between the application side and thecommunication side. In response to request (control signal) from theapplication CPU 110 or a request (or control signal) from the CCPU I/F240, the ACPU I/F 150 also controls read and write of data and programsfrom and into the ROM 130 and the RAM 140 by controlling the memory I/F120.

Referring to FIG. 4 here, the application program 1, a communicationprogram 2, and an intermittent operation program 3 are stored in the ROM130 or the RAM 140. Here, the application program 1 is a program toexecute respective functions including a camera function, a video imagereproduction function, a processing function of various kinds ofapplications in JAVA (registered trademark), and an audio processingfunction other than the communication processes. The communicationprogram 2 is a program to control the LSI 270 which executes a basebandprocess for realizing communication with a base station and other mobilecommunication terminals and a process of transmitting and receiving aradio signal. The intermittent operation program 3 is a program toperform the intermittent operation by controlling the LSI 270.

The communication CPU 200 is an arithmetic processing unit whichperforms the normal operation and the intermittent operation bycontrolling the LSI 270 via the control I/F 260. At this time, thecommunication CPU 200 carries out each operation by using a programstored in the internal memory 210 or the RAM 230 at the time of thenormal operation and by using the program stored in the internal memory210 at a time of the intermittent operation. The memory I/F 220 writesand reads data and a program into and from the RAM 230 and the internalmemory 210 in accordance with a request (or control signal) sent fromthe communication CPU 200 or the CCPU I/F 240. The memory I/F 220 alsotransfers data and the program between the internal memory 210 and theRAM 230 in accordance with a control signal sent from the intermittentcontrol unit 250. The memory I/F 220 further controls power supply tothe RAM 230 in accordance with a request (or control signal) sent fromthe intermittent control unit 250.

The CCPU I/F 240 is an interface which exchanges data with the ACPU I/F150 on the application side. The CCPU I/F 240 controls write and read ofdata and the program into and from the RAM 230 by controlling the memoryI/F 220 in accordance with a request (or control signal) sent from thecommunication CPU 200, the intermittent control unit 250 and the ACPUI/F 150 and exchanges data between the communication side and theapplication side. The control I/F 260 is an interface which controls anoperation of the LSI 270 in accordance with a control signal sent fromthe communication CPU 200 and controls transfer of various kinds of databetween the LSI 270 and the communication CPU 200. The control I/F 260also sets the LSI 270 to a low power consumption state in theintermittent operation by controlling the operation of the LSI 270 inaccordance with a control signal sent from the communication CPU 200.The LSI 270 is an integrated circuit which includes a baseband section,a wireless section and a power supply circuit to execute communicationprocesses.

The internal memory 210 is a storage unit attached to the communicationCPU 200, and preferably uses an internal cache and TCM (tightly coupledmemory). Accordingly, the internal memory 210 can be accessed at higherspeed than the RAM 230 which is an external storage medium. The internalmemory 210 according to the present invention is also used for theintermittent operation program 3 at the time of the intermittentoperation, so that it should preferably have a capacity to store theintermittent operation program 3 at least.

The intermittent control unit 250 controls the memory I/F 220 and theCCPU I/F 240 in accordance with a control signal sent from thecommunication CPU 200 and controls the start and stop of theintermittent operation and the transfer of the program for theintermittent operation or other programs. FIG. 2 is a block diagramshowing the configuration of the intermittent control unit 250 accordingto the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, the intermittent controlunit 250 includes a determining section 300, a DMA (direct memoryaccess) section 310 and a register section 320.

The determining section 300 analyses the control signal sent from thecommunication CPU 200, the memory I/F 220 and the CCPU I/F 240 andcontrols the memory I/F 220 and the DMA section 310 in accordance withan operation request included in the control signal, and sets data orinstructions of transfer of programs to the register section 320. Morespecifically, the determining section 300 controls power consumption inthe RAM 230 by controlling the memory I/F 220 in accordance with acontrol signal relating to operation mode switching and issued from thecommunication CPU 200. That is, the determining section 300 carries outa control so that power consumption of the RAM 230 at the time of theintermittent operation is lower than that at the time of the normaloperation. The determining section 300 also sets address data of atransfer source and a transfer destination of programs and other data tothe register section 320 on the basis of transfer destination data sentfrom the communication CPU 200. The determining section 300 furthercontrols the DMA section 310 to execute a process of transferring theprograms and data between the RAM 230 and the internal memory 210 orbetween the internal memory 210 and the application side. Thedetermining section 300 also generates an execution completion signal tothe communication CPU 200 in accordance with a transfer completionsignal of data or the like sent from the CCPU interface (I/F) 240 andthe memory I/F 220 to notify completion of a process relating to startor stop the intermittent operation.

The DMA section 310 controls the memory I/F 220 and the CCPU I/F 240 inaccordance with a program transfer request signal sent from thedetermining section 300 to carry out direct data transfer between theinternal memory 210 and the RAM 230 or between the internal memory 210and the application side without intervention of the communication CPU200. At this time, the program and the data are transferred by referringto address data of the transfer source and the transfer destination setin the register section 320.

The address data of the transfer source and the transfer destination fora program and data to be transferred at the time of the intermittentoperation are registered in the register section 320 by the determiningsection 300 and read into the DMA section 310 via the determiningsection 300 when the program is transferred.

With the above configuration, the intermittent operation program 3 isstored in the internal memory 210 on the communication side when theoperation of the mobile communication terminal 100 according to thepresent invention is switched from the normal operation to theintermittent operation. Accordingly, the communication CPU 200 canaccess the internal memory 210 to perform the intermittent operation.The intermittent operation programs 3 are also transferred to the ROM130 and the RAM 140 on the application side in the switching from thenormal operation to the intermittent operation. Accordingly, it isunnecessary to reserve a storage capacity for the intermittent operationprogram 3 in the storage unit on the communication side at the time ofthe normal operation. Especially, because the intermittent operationprogram 3 is not stored in the RAM 230, a storage capacity can bereduced.

It should be noted that the control signal for control among respectiveblocks and a data flow are not limited to a port control, a serialcontrol, a serial transfer and a parallel transfer or the like.Moreover, well known interfaces can be used for the respectiveinterfaces, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.Furthermore, since a baseband section, a wireless section and a powersupply section included in the LSI 270 are also well known to those whoare skilled in the art, detailed description thereof will be alsoomitted.

Referring to FIGS. 3 to 8, a series of operations such as a startoperation, the normal operation and the intermittent operation in themobile communication terminal 100 according to the exemplary embodimentof the present invention will be described.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing a program transition state ((b) of FIG.3) corresponding to an operation transition state of the mobilecommunication terminal 100 ((a) of FIG. 3). Referring to FIG. 3, whenthe operation of the mobile communication terminal 100 is switchedbetween an intermittent operation mode and a communication operationmode, programs are exchanged. Accordingly, the operation of the mobilecommunication terminal will be described below in detail at the starttime, at a time of start of the intermittent operation, and at a time ofstart of the normal operation (i.e. end of the intermittent operation)when the mode is switched between the intermittent operation mode andthe normal operation mode.

(Program Transition)

Referring to FIG. 4, program transition in the mobile communicationterminal 100 according to the present invention will be described. (a)of FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of thestorage unit in the mobile communication terminal 100. Referring to (a)of FIG. 4, there are shown the ROM 130 and the RAM 140 on theapplication side, and the RAM 230 and the internal memory 210 on thecommunication side. (b) to (e) of FIG. 4 show programs to be stored inthe storage unit on the application side and the communication side atthe start time ((b) of FIG. 4), during the normal operation ((c) of FIG.4), in the transition from the normal operation to the intermittentoperation (or when the intermittent operation starts) ((d) of FIG. 4),and in the transition time from the intermittent operation to the normaloperation (or when the intermittent operation stops) ((e) of FIG. 4).Frame lines indicating the storage unit in (a) of FIG. 4 correspond toframe lines in showing programs in (b) to (e) of FIG. 4.

Usually, all the programs used in the mobile communication terminal arestored in the ROM 130 and the RAM 140 on the application side. Referringto (b) of FIG. 4, when the mobile communication terminal 100 starts, thecommunication program 2 stored on the application side is transferred tothe RAM 230 on the communication side.

Referring to (c) of FIG. 4, at the time of the normal operation, acommunication process are executed while the processes are optimized bypartially transferring the communication program 2 from the RAM 230 tothe internal memory 210 in order to utilize high speed processing of theinternal memory 210.

Referring to (d) of FIG. 4, unnecessary programs which has been storedin the internal memory 210 and are not used in the intermittentoperation (to be referred to as a saved program 4) are saved into theRAM 230 when the intermittent operation starts. Then, the intermittentoperation program 3 is transferred form the application side to theinternal memory 210. During an intermittent operation period, thecommunication CPU 200 executes the intermittent operation program 3stored in the internal memory 210 for the intermittent operation.

Referring to (e) of FIG. 4, when the intermittent operation is ended toshift to the normal operation, the intermittent operation program 3stored in the internal memory 210 is saved into the ROM 130 and the RAM130 on the application side so as to shift to the normal operation asshown in (c) of FIG. 4. When the intermittent operation is made to startnext time, the saved program 4 is transferred from the internal memory210 to the RAM 230 again as shown in (d) of FIG. 4 so as to transfer theintermittent operation program 3 from the ROM 130 and the RAM 140 on theapplication side to the internal memory 210.

Explained below will be an operation for transfer of the program at thestart time, in the shift to the intermittent operation from the normaloperation, and in the shift to the normal operation from theintermittent operation will be described below with reference to FIGS. 5to 7.

(Program Transfer at the Start Time)

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a program transfer operation at thestart time in the mobile communication terminal 100. Referring to FIG.5, the communication CPU 200 issues a transfer control signal 11 to theCCPU I/F 240 when the mobile communication terminal 100 starts. Thetransfer control signal 11 includes data to be used to transfer thecommunication program (e.g. program ID) and an address of the RAM 230 asa transfer destination and the like. The CCPU I/F 240 issues a transferrequest 13 to the memory I/F 120 on the application side via the ACPUI/F 150 based on the transfer control signal 11. The memory I/F 120acquires the communication program 2 from the ROM 130 and the RAM 140based on the transfer request 13 and transfers the acquired program tothe CCPU I/F 240 via the ACPU I/F 150. The CCPU I/F 240 transfers thetransferred communication program 2 to the memory I/F 220 and issues astorage request 14 to the RAM 230. The memory I/F 220 stores thecommunication program 2 in a transfer destination address of the RAM 230which is included in the storage request 14.

When a start operation of the mobile communication terminal 100 ends,the communication CPU 200 accesses the RAM 230 via the memory I/F 220 toperform the normal operation by using the communication program 2 storedin the RAM 230.

(Program Transfer in the Shift from the Normal Operation to theIntermittent Operation)

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a program transfer operation when themobile communication terminal ends the normal operation to start theintermittent operation. Referring to FIG. 6, a program transferoperation in the shift from the normal operation to the intermittentoperation will be described. Here, the communication CPU 200 writestransfer destination data of the intermittent operation program 3 in theintermittent control unit 250 during the normal operation forpreparation of transfer of the intermittent operation program 3.

The communication CPU 200 determines the start of the intermittentoperation from communication environment data of the mobilecommunication terminal 100, and issues an intermittent operation startsignal 15 to the intermittent control unit 250. The communication CPU200 sets execution of the program stored in the internal memory 210 whena next operation starts after issuing the intermittent operation startsignal 15, and makes the transition to a low power consumption state forreduction of consumed power.

The intermittent control unit 250 issues a save request signal 16 inresponse to the intermittent operation start signal 15 to control thememory I/F 220 such that the saved program 4 which is not used at a timeof an intermittent reception operation is saved from the internal memory210 to the RAM 230. The intermittent control unit 250 also controls theRAM 230 via the memory I/F 220 to be set to a low power consumptionstate.

When a save operation ends, the intermittent control unit 250 issues atransfer request signal 17 to the CCPU I/F 240 to request transfer ofthe intermittent operation program 3 which is used at a time of theintermittent reception operation to the application side. In response tothe transfer request signal 17, the CCPU I/F 240 issues a transferrequest 18 to the memory I/F 120 on the application side via the ACPUI/F 150. The memory I/F 120 acquires the intermittent operation program3 from the ROM 130 and the RAM 140 in accordance with the transferrequest 18 to transfer to the CCPU I/F 240 on the communication side viathe ACPU I/F 150. The CCPU I/F 240 transfers the transferredintermittent operation program 3 to the memory I/F 220, and issues astorage request 19 to the internal memory 210. The memory I/F 220 storesthe intermittent operation program 3 in a transfer destination addressof the internal memory 210 contained in the storage request 19.

The communication CPU 200 is made to start the intermittent operation inaccordance with expiration of a hardware timer (not shown). At thistime, the communication CPU 200 controls the LSI 270 to perform theintermittent operation by accessing the internal memory 210 and usingthe intermittent operation program 3 stored in the internal memory 210.

As stated above, the mobile communication terminal 100 according to thepresent invention has the communication CPU 200 which accesses only theinternal memory 210 during the intermittent operation without accessingthe RAM 230. Therefore, power required to access the RAM 230 can bereduced. It is also possible to maintain a low power consumption stateof the RAM 230 itself under control of the intermittent control unit250, whereby power consumption can be further suppressed.

(Program Transfer in the Shift from the Intermittent Operation to theNormal Operation)

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a program transfer operation when themobile communication terminal ends the intermittent operation to startthe normal operation. Referring to FIG. 7, a program transferringoperation in the transition from the intermittent operation to thenormal operation will be described. It is assumed here that thecommunication CPU 200 controls the intermittent control unit 250 tostore data such as a transfer destination of the intermittent operationprogram 3 for preparation of transfer of the intermittent operationprogram 3.

The communication CPU 200 determines the start of the normal operationfrom communication environment data of the mobile communication terminal100 and issues an intermittent operation stop signal 22 to theintermittent control unit 250. The communication CPU 200 sets anexecution of the program from the internal memory 210 and the RAM 230when a next operation starts after issuing the intermittent operationstop signal 22, and makes the transition to a normal power consumptionstate.

The intermittent control unit 250 controls the memory I/F 220 by issuinga save request signal 23 in response to the intermittent operation stopsignal 22 to extract the intermittent operation program 3 from theinternal memory 210 and transfer the program to the CCPU I/F 240. Theintermittent control unit 250 also issues a transfer request signal 24containing transfer destination data to transfer the intermittentoperation program 3 received from the memory I/F 220 to the applicationside. The intermittent control unit 250 further controls the RAM 230 viathe memory I/F 220 to cancel a power consumption state and set a normalstate.

The CCPU I/F 240 transfers the intermittent operation program 3 to thememory I/F 120 on the application side via the ACPU I/F 150 in responseto the transfer request signal 24, and issues a storage request 25. Thememory I/F 120 controls the ROM 130 and the RAM 140 to store theintermittent operation program 3 in accordance with the storage request25.

When a save operation ends, the intermittent control unit 250 notifiesto the communication CPU 200 that the communication operation can bestarted. The communication CPU 200 starts the normal operation inaccordance with the notification of save operation completion. At thistime, the communication CPU 200 accesses the RAM 230 to use thecommunication program 2 stored therein and performs the normal operationby controlling the LSI 270. The intermittent control unit 250 alsocontrols the RAM 230 via the memory I/F 220 to set a power consumptionstate of the RAM 230 to a normal state.

The mobile communication terminal 100 according to the present inventionthus controls the storage unit on the application side to store theintermittent program 3 at a normal time, and controls the internalmemory 210 to store the program at the time of the intermittentoperation. It is therefore unnecessary for the RAM 230 on thecommunication side to store the intermittent operation program 3.Accordingly, reduction of a storage capacity of the RAM 230 allowsreduction of a circuit area on the communication side, or a storagecapacity of the RAM 230 can be efficiently used.

In the mobile communication terminal 100 with the aforementionedconfiguration, the intermittent operation program 3, which is used inaccordance with communication environments at the time of theintermittent operation, can be divided into small blocks and exchangedin units of blocks. More specifically, referring to FIG. 8, the programis divided into an in-area intermittent operation program, which is usedwhen the mobile communication terminal is within a service area suchthat an environment is provided to use services by receiving a radiowave, and an out-of-area intermittent operation program, which is usedwhen it is outside the service area without reception of radio wave, andstored in the ROM 130 or the RAM 140 on the application side. Only thein-area intermittent operation program is transferred to the internalmemory 210 on the communication side when the mobile communicationterminal is within the service area during the intermittent operation(refer to (b) of FIG. 8), while only the out-of-area intermittentoperation program is transferred to the internal memory 210 when it isoutside the service area (refer to (c) of FIG. 8), so that anintermittent operation corresponding to respective communicationenvironments is carried out. The capacity of the internal memory 210 canbe reduced furthermore if the intermittent operation program 3 used atthe time of the intermittent operation can be divided into smaller unitsin accordance with communication environments. Therefore, the mobilecommunication terminal 100 according to the present invention is allowedto have a reduced circuit area in the RAM 230 and the internal memory210 on the communication side, whereby development costs can be reduced.

Although the exemplary embodiment of the present invention has beendescribed above in detail, a specific configuration of the presentinvention is not limited to the aforementioned exemplary embodiment andany modifications made without departing from the scope of the presentinvention can also be included in the present invention. The presentexemplary embodiments have been presented by using the mobilecommunication terminal mounted with twin CPUs as an example. However, ifan external storage unit for storing the intermittent operation program3 is provided, an exemplary embodiment may also be presented such thatthe intermittent operation program is transferred from the externalstorage unit to the internal memory 210 at the time of the intermittentoperation and saved in the external storage unit at the time of thenormal operation.

1. A mobile communication terminal comprising an application section anda communication section, wherein said application section comprises astorage unit in which a communication program and an intermittentoperation program are stored, wherein said communication sectioncomprises: a RAM; an internal memory which has a higher operation speedthan that of said RAM; a communication processor configured to perform acommunication operation by using a communication program loaded in saidRAM; and an intermittent control unit, wherein said intermittent controlunit moves the intermittent operation program stored in said storageunit to said internal memory in response to an intermittent operationstart signal issued from said communication processor, and wherein whenthe move is completed, said communication processor stops saidcommunication operation that has been running and performs anintermission reception operation by using the intermittent operationprogram in said internal memory.
 2. The mobile communication terminalaccording to claim 1, wherein said intermittent control unit movesprograms which are stored in said internal memory and not used for theintermittent operation to said RAM in response to intermittent operationstart signal from said communication processor and then moves theintermittent operation program stored in said storage unit to saidinternal memory.
 3. The mobile communication terminal according to claim1, wherein said communication processor notifies data of a destinationof the intermittent operation program to said intermittent control unitin case of the communication operation, and wherein said intermittentcontrol unit stores the intermittent operation program in thedestination of said internal memory based on the destination data. 4.The mobile communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein when anoperation is switched from the intermission reception operation to thecommunication operation, said communication processor issues anintermittent operation stop signal to said intermittent control unit,and wherein said intermittent control unit moves the intermittentoperation program in said internal memory to said storage unit inresponse to the intermittent operation stop signal.
 5. The mobilecommunication terminal according to claim 1, wherein said intermittentcontrol unit performs a control such that a consumed power amount ofsaid RAM in the intermission reception operation is lower than aconsumed power amount in the communication operation.
 6. The mobilecommunication terminal according to claim 1, wherein the intermittentoperation program contains a plurality of intermittent operationprograms which are divided based on a communication environmentcondition, wherein said intermittent control unit moves any of theplurality of intermittent operation programs from said storage unit tosaid internal memory according to the communication environmentcondition, and wherein when the movement is completed, saidcommunication processor stops the communication operation and performsthe intermittent reception operation by using the intermittent operationprogram in said internal memory.
 7. The mobile communication terminalaccording to claim 1, wherein said application section further comprisesan application processor configured to execute an operation other thanthe communication operation by using the application program, whereinthe application program is further stored in said storage unit, whereinsaid intermittent control unit in response to the intermittent operationstart signal from said communication processor and moves theintermittent operation program stored in said storage unit to saidinternal memory, wherein when the movement is completed, saidcommunication processor stops the communication operation and executesthe intermission reception operation by using the intermittent operationprogram in said internal memory.
 8. A communication method in a mobilecommunication terminal which comprises an application section and acommunication section, wherein said application section comprises astorage unit which stores a communication program and an intermittentoperation program, wherein said communication section comprises a RAM;an internal memory operating in a higher operation speed than that ofsaid RAM; a communication processor configured to execute acommunication operation by using a communication program loaded in saidRAM; and an intermittent control unit, said communication methodcomprising: issuing intermittent operation start signal from saidcommunication processor which is executing the communication operationby using the communication program loaded into said RAM; moving theintermittent operation program from said storage unit to said internalmemory by said intermittent control unit in response to saidintermittent operation start signal; stopping the communicationoperation that has been running by said communication processor when themoving is completed; accessing to said internal memory in the higheroperation speed than that of said RAM to execute an intermissionreception operation by using the intermittent operation program in saidinternal memory.
 9. The communication method according to claim 8,wherein said moving comprises: saving programs which are in saidinternal memory and which are not used for the intermission receptionoperation, in said RAM by said intermittent control unit in response tothe intermittent operation start signal issued from said communicationprocessor.
 10. The communication method according to claim 8, whereinsaid moving comprises: notifying data of a destination of theintermittent operation program from said communication processor to saidintermittent control unit on the communication operation; and saidintermittent control unit storing the intermittent operation program inthe destination of said internal memory based on the destination data.11. The communication method according to claim 8, further comprising:issuing an intermittent operation stop signal to said intermittentcontrol unit from said communication processor when the operation isswitched from the intermittent reception operation to the communicationoperation; and moving the intermittent operation program from saidinternal memory to said storage unit by said intermittent control unitin response to the intermittent operation stop signal.
 12. Thecommunication method according to claim 8, further comprising: executinga control by said intermittent control unit such that a consumed poweramount of said RAM in the intermission reception operation is lower thanthat of said RAM in the communication operation.